Ning Zetao of China swims in the men's 100m freestyle semifinal at the Aquatics World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Aug 5, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

KAZAN, Italy - Chinese sprinter Ning Zetao edged favorites Cam McEvoy and Vladimir Morozov to lead the 100-meter freestyle preliminaries at the swimming world championships on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Ning won the penultimate heat of swimming's signature race in 48.11 seconds.

McEvoy, the top-ranked Australian with two-time defending champion James Magnussen out injured, won the final heat in 48.33. Morozov, the California-based Russian, qualified third in 48.46.

McEvoy placed eighth in the 200 free a night earlier.

Olympic champion Nathan Adrian finished seventh to qualify for the semifinals, while his American teammate, Jimmy Feigen, the silver medalist at the world championships two years ago, failed to qualify.

Ning swept the 50- and 100-freestyle titles at last year's Asian Games, becoming the first Asian swimmer to break the 48-second barrier. He entered this meet with the second-best qualifying time of 47.70.